Corey Ohama

The Dawn is Too Far: Stories of Iranian-American Life poetically narrates the story of a community of Iranian Americans who have made the San Francisco Bay Area their home over the past five decades. The film explores Iranian immigration through turbulent histories of dissent, revolution, war, and separation, and the reinvention of identity in a new land and culture. The Dawn is Too Far highlights how Iranian students, activists, and artists have navigated displacement while drawing on and influencing Bay Area culture. This community offers a more nuanced story of the Iranian diaspora—the ways that this community enriches the region where they live, work, and build families. The Dawn is Too Far undermines the tired and overplayed news headlines that are dominated by narratives of enmity and mistrust between the government of Iran and the U.S., to offer a more humane understanding of the how people's lives and the sacrifices they make are part of the larger story of immigration.

The filmmaker's father and uncle, Norm and Stan, are third generation Japanese Americans. They are "all American" guys who love bowling, cards and pinball. Placed in the Amache internment camp as children during World War II, they don't think the experience affected them that much. But in the course of navigating the maze of her father's and uncle's pursuits while simultaneously trying to inquire about their past, the filmmaker is able to find connections between their lives now and the history that was left behind.

Dorothy Morrison, Tracy Nelson, Annie Sampson and Angela Strehli, all highly regarded vocalists in their own rights, have joined forces as The Blues Broads. Their self-titled debut CD/DVD set includes both familiar songs associated with their respective august careers, as well as newly written material that underscores the creative might of these four remarkable women. Reflecting more than two centuries of collective experience in blues, country, gospel and rock, this awesome aggregation is nothing less than a roots music "supergroup" of the first order.

Jewelle: A Just Vision traces the nodes of social movements from Civil Rights to Marriage Equality. It reveals radical Black and Indigenous feminist networks and thought that could shape what is to come. It drinks deeply from the art and activism of the incomparable Jewelle Gomez, Ioway & African American, Wampanoag, and Cape Verdean lesbian elder. Her life and work replenish humanity with fierce hope as her power swells into the world, from histories of Massasoit and her great-grandmother’s buckskin dress, queer Black ancestors, and slavery-era vampires to starry regenerative futures.

On an island where religion bars women from playing soccer, the Queens resist cultural norms and challenge local assumptions about Islam and gender identity. The film explores the history and character of the team, and the evolving perception of women in sports on the island.

A feature documentary about the Auntie Sewing Squad, a grassroots collective founded by performance artist Kristina Wong in March 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. As PPE shortages spread across the U.S., hundreds of volunteers—mostly BIPOC women, along with Uncles and non-binary members—turned their homes into sewing hubs producing cloth masks for vulnerable communities and essential workers. The group quickly grew from a few dozen activists into a nationwide network of more than 800 volunteers. Beyond providing masks, the collective used mutual aid to support historically marginalized communities and openly discuss feminism, anti-racism, allyship, and resistance to systemic inequality.

A poetic short featuring the voice of an undocumented young Latina woman who was brought to the U.S. as a child. The film introduces viewers to a personal voice on the immigration debate: DACA, the Dream Act, and other immigration reform, speaking about what it's like to grow up and face an uncertain future as a young undocumented person in America.

Lawan Jirasuradej’s independent 16mm shorts, Painted Earth, were created during her Fulbright graduate scholarship study at San Francisco State University's School of Cinema. Painted Earth is among a handful of Thai experimental films made by independent filmmakers in the 1990s, and its combination of poetic images and narration brings together the two worlds of sound and picture, of the USA and Thailand.